Besides Hindi, the British-Indian actress and former model has also appeared in Telugu and Malayalam films.
"Katrina Kaif is somebody whose dream to become a big movie star in India was an impossible dream considering where she came from and what her life was.
"But that did not stop her. Dreams do come true... You just have to believe in yourself. She has achieved what was impossible for her to achieve," Zoya told PTI.
She played memorable roles in hit films like 'Race', 'Partner', 'Singh Is Kinng', 'New York', 'Rajneeti', 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and 'Ek Tha Tiger'.
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Zoya also cast Katrina in the lead in her 2011 slice-of-life film 'Zindagi...'. She again showed faith in the and roped in for 'Bombay Talkies', a short film which celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The film release on May 3.
It revolves around a boy who dances to the tune of 'Sheila ki Jawani' (the highly popular item song featuring Katrina in 'Tees Maar Khan') all day and wishes to be like the actress. The kid's craze for Katrina borders on obsession.
"When we were kids we used to dress up and dance. Even boys used to dress up like girls and dance," said the filmmaker, who made her debut as director with 'Luck By Chance' in 2009.